CHAPTER 10 AMERICA CLAIMS

AN EMPIRE

The Great Transformation 1876-1900

• From rural to urban• From agricultural to industrial• From isolationist to international

involvement & imperialism

IMPERIALISM AND AMERICA• Throughout the 19th century

America expanded control of the continent to the Pacific Ocean

• By 1880, many American leaders felt the U.S. should join European nations and establish colonies overseas

• Thus began America’s foray into Imperialism – the policy in which stronger nations extend their economic, political or military control over weaker nations

WHY IMPERIALISM?

• 1) Desire for Military strength – Mahan advised strong navy

• 2) Thirst for new markets – to spur economy & trade

• 3) Belief in Cultural Superiority – a belief that Anglo-Saxons were superior

1. Commercial/Business Interests

1. Commercial/Business Interests

U. S. Foreign Investments: 1869-1908

U. S. Foreign Investments: 1869-1908

American Foreign Trade:

1870-1914

American Foreign Trade:

1870-1914

1. Commercial/Business Interests

1. Commercial/Business Interests

I. Motivations for Intervention

• A. Economic: Agriculture & Industry Desires Resources and Markets

Business Demands ImperialismSenator Alfred Beveridge, 1898

• “Today we are raising more than we can consume. Today we are making more than we can use… Therefore we must find new markets for our produce, new occupation for our capital, new work for our labor.”

Business Demands Imperialism

• “As our commerce spreads, the flag of liberty will circle the globe and the highway of the ocean – carrying trade to all mankind – will be guarded by the guns of the republic. And as their thunders salute the flag, benighted (ignorant) people will know that the voice of liberty is speaking, at last, for them … that civilization is dawning at last, for them.”

2.Military/Strategic Interests

2.Military/Strategic Interests

Alfred T. Mahan The Influence of Sea Power on History: 1660-1783

Alfred T. Mahan The Influence of Sea Power on History: 1660-1783

3. Social Darwinist Thinking3. Social Darwinist Thinking

The White Man’sBurden

The White Man’sBurdenThe Hierarchy

of RaceThe Hierarchy

of Race

The “Triumph” of the Anglo-Saxons – the American branch

• “The time is coming … (when) the world will enter upon a new stage of its history – the final competition of races, for which the Anglo-Saxon is being schooled.”

The “Triumph” of the Anglo-Saxons – the American branch

• “Then this race of unequaled energy, with all the majesty of numbers and the might of wealth behind it – the representative ... Of the largest liberty, the purist Christianity, the highest civilization - … will spread itself over the earth.”

The “Triumph” of the Anglo-Saxons – the American branch

• “... This powerful race will move down upon Mexico, down upon Central and South America, out upon the islands of the sea, over upon Africa and beyond. And can anyone doubt that the results of this competition of races will be the ‘survival of the fittest?” – Rev. Josiah Strong, 1891– Is this similar to something we have come

across before in American history?

C. Racial: “Little Brown Brothers”

Humanitarian: To Civilize and Christianize

“The White Man’s Burden”• Americans & Europeans both claimed

that it was their responsibility as superior races to uplift, civilize and Christianize native peoples

• “Take up the white man’s burden –• Send forth the best ye breed-• Go bind your sons to exile• To serve your captives need”

– Rudyard Kipling

4.Religious/Missionary Interests

4.Religious/Missionary Interests

American Missionaries

in China, 1905

American Missionaries

in China, 1905

5. National Pride & Global Competition“Everyone else gets to!”

International Darwinism• Since only the strongest nations will

survive, the U.S. had to be strong religiously, militarily, and politically.

• The U.S. had to demonstrate its strength by acquiring territories overseas.

6.Closing the American Frontier

6.Closing the American Frontier

First Steps

• Seward and Blaine– Secretaries of State William H. Seward and

James G. Blaine– Both promoted expansion in the Pacific

• Hawaii– Government overthrown by American planters

• Chile and Venezuela– President Cleveland asserted American

authority in the Western hemisphereThe Roots of Imperialism

THE U.S. ACQUIRES ALASKA

• In 1867, Secretary of State William Steward arranged for the United States to buy Alaska from the Russians for $7.2 million

• Some thought it was a silly idea and called it “Steward’s Icebox”

• Time has shown how smart it was to buy Alaska for 2 cents an acre

• Alaska is rich in timber, minerals and oil

Alaska

U.S. TAKES HAWAII

• Hawaii had been economically important to Americans for centuries

• To avoid import taxes (tariffs), sugar growers pleaded for annexation

• The U.S. knew the value of the Islands – they had built a naval base at Pearl Harbor in 1887

• Led by Sanford Dole, American annexed Hawaii in 1898 and it formally became a state in 1959

U. S. Missionaries in HawaiiU. S. Missionaries in Hawaii

Imiola Church – first built in the late 1820s

Imiola Church – first built in the late 1820s

U. S. View of HawaiiansU. S. View of Hawaiians

Hawaii becomes a U. S. Protectorate in 1849 by virtue of economic treaties.

Hawaii becomes a U. S. Protectorate in 1849 by virtue of economic treaties.

Hawaiian Queen LiliuokalaniHawaiian Queen Liliuokalani

Hawaii for the Hawaiians!

Hawaii for the Hawaiians!

U. S. Business Interests In Hawaii

U. S. Business Interests In Hawaii

1875 – Reciprocity Treaty

1890 – McKinley Tariff

1893 – Americanbusinessmen backed anuprising against Queen Liliuokalani.

Sanford Ballard Dole

proclaims the Republic of Hawaii in 1894.

SECTION 2: THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR

• America had long held an interest in Cuba

• When Cubans unsuccessfully rebelled against Spanish rule in the late 19th century, American sympathy went out to the Cuban people

• After Spain abolished slavery in Cuba in 1886, Americans invested millions in Cuban sugar Cuba is just 90 miles south

of Florida

II. The Spanish American-WarA. 4 Causes of the War:

– Sugar (Economic) – Spanish Cruelties (Humanitarian)

CUBA’S SECOND WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE

• Anti-Spain sentiment in Cuba soon erupted into a second war for independence

• Led by poet Jose Marti, Cuba attempted a revolution in 1895

• Marti deliberately destroyed property, including American sugar plants, hoping to provoke American intervention

Marti

WAR FEVER ESCALATES

• Newspaper publishers William Randolph Hearst (New York Journal) and Joseph Pulitzer (New York World) exaggerated Spanish atrocities and brutality in “Headline Wars” Political cartoon: Pulitzer (left) and

Hearst escalating and instigating war between the U.S. and Spain

“Yellow Journalism” & Jingoism

“Yellow Journalism” & Jingoism

Joseph PulitzerJoseph Pulitzer

William Randolph Hearst

William Randolph Hearst

Hearst to Frederick Remington: You furnish the pictures, and I’ll furnish the war!

De Lôme LetterDe Lôme Letter

Dupuy de Lôme, SpanishAmbassador to the U.S.

Criticized PresidentMcKinley as weak and abidder for the admirationof the crowd, besidesbeing a would-be politicianwho tries to leave a dooropen behind himself whilekeeping on good termswith the jingoes of hisparty.

Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt

Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the McKinley administration.

Imperialist and American nationalist.

Criticized PresidentMcKinley as having the backbone of a chocolate éclair!

Resigns his position to fight in Cuba.

U.S.S MAINE EXPLODES

• Early in 1888, President McKinley ordered the U.S.S. Maine to Cuba in order to bring home American citizens in danger

• On February 15, 1898 the ship blew up in the harbor of Havana

• More than 260 men were killed

Before

After

WAR ERUPTS WITH SPAIN• There was no holding

back those that wanted war with Spain

• Newspapers blamed the Spanish for bombing the U.S.S. Maine (recent investigations have shown it was a fire inside the Maine)

• “Remember the Maine!” became a rallying cry for U.S. intervention in Cuba

THE WAR IN THE CARIBBEAN

• A naval blockade of Cuba was followed by a land invasion highlighted by Roosevelt’s Rough Rider victory at San Juan Hill

• Next, the American Navy destroyed the Spanish fleet and paved the way for an invasion of Puerto Rico (Spanish colony)

THE WAR IN THE PHILIPPINES

• U.S. forces surprised Spain by attacking the Spanish colony of the Philippines

• 11,000 Americans joined forces with Filipino rebel leader Emilo Aguinaldo

• By August, 1898 Spain had surrendered to the U.S. in Manila

U.S. WINS; SIGNS TREATY OF PARIS

• The U.S. and Spain signed an armistice on August 12, 1898, ending what Secretary of State John Hay called “a splendid little war”

• The war lasted only 16 weeks

• Cuba was now independent

• U.S. receives Guam, Puerto Rico, and “bought” the Philippines for $20 million Treaty of Paris, 1898

The Treaty of Paris: 1898The Treaty of Paris: 1898

Cuba was freed from Spanish rule.

Spain gave up Puerto Rico and the island ofGuam.

The U. S. paid Spain$20 mil. for thePhilippines.

The U. S. becomesan imperial power!

The American Anti-Imperialist

League

The American Anti-Imperialist

LeagueFounded in 1899.

Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie, WilliamJames, and WilliamJennings Bryan amongthe leaders.

Campaigned against the annexation of thePhilippines and otheracts of imperialism.

SECTION 3: ACQUIRING NEW LANDS

• The U.S had to decide how to rule the new lands

• Puerto Rico wanted their independence– but the U.S. had other plans

• Puerto Rico was important to the U.S. strategically

• The U.S. set up a civil government, full citizenship, and a bicameral system

Puerto Rico: 1898Puerto Rico: 18981900 - Foraker Act. PR became an “unincorporated

territory.”

Citizens of PR, not of the US.

Import duties on PR goods

1901-1903 the Insular Cases. Constitutional rights were not

automatically extended to territorial possessions.

Congress had the power to decide these rights.

Import duties laid down by the Foraker Act were legal!

Puerto Rico: 1898Puerto Rico: 18981917 – Jones Act. Gave full territorial status to PR.

Removed tariff duties on PR goods coming into the US.

PRs elected theirown legislators &governor to enforcelocal laws.

PRs could NOT votein US presidentialelections.

A resident commissioner was sent to Washington to vote for PR in the House.

CUBA AND THE UNITED STATES

• The Treaty of Paris granted full independence to Cuba

• The U.S signed an agreement with Cuba known as the Platt Amendment 1903

• Key features of “Platt” included the right of the U.S. to maintain naval stations on the island and the right to intervene in Cuban affairs

• Cuba had become a “protectorate” of the U.S.

Today the U.S. has a prison in Guantanamo

Bay, Cuba

Teller Amendment (1898)

Platt Amendment (1903)

1. Cuba was not to enter into any agreements with foreign powers that would endanger its independence.

2. The U.S. could intervene in Cuban affairs if necessary to maintain an efficient, independent govt.

3. Cuba must lease Guantanamo Bay to the U.S. for naval and coaling station.

4. Cuba must not build up an excessive public debt.

Cuban Independence?Cuban Independence?

Senator Orville Platt

Senator Orville Platt

C. An American Puppet: Cuba & the Platt Amendment

“The government of Cuba consents that the United States may exercise the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty….”

FILIPINOS REBEL

• Filipinos reacted with rage to the American annexation

• Rebel leader Emilio Aguinaldo vowed to fight for freedom and in 1899 he led a rebellion

• The 3-year war claimed 20,000 Filipino rebels, 4,000 American lives and $400,000,000 (20x the price the U.S. paid for the land)U.S. troops fire on rebels

FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN CHINA

• China was a vast potential market for American products

• Weakened by war and foreign intervention, many European countries had colonized in China

• In 1889, John Hay, U.S. Secretary of State, issued the Open Door Policy which outlined his plan for free trade among nations in China

Foreign nations were opening the door to China’s trade

BOXER REBELLION

• European nations dominated China’s cities

• Resentment arose in the form of secret societies determined to rid China of these “foreign devils”

• The Boxer’s were a secret group that rioted in 1900, killing and vandalizing all things foreign

• Foreign Troops were called in to put down this “Boxer Rebellion”

The Open Door PolicyThe Open Door Policy

Secretary John Hay.

Give all nations equalaccess to trade in China.

Guaranteed that China would NOT be taken over by any one foreign power.

AMERICANS PROTECT RIGHTS IN ASIA

• After the Boxer Rebellion, John Hay again issued a series of Open Door Policies

• These policies reflected American beliefs in the importance of exports, the right of America to intervene to keep foreign markets open, and the belief that America’s survival depended on access to foreign markets

America as a Pacific Power

America as a Pacific Power

SECTION 4: AMERICA AS A WORLD POWER

• Two events signaled America’s continued climb toward being the #1 world power

• 1) Roosevelt negotiated a settlement between Russia and Japan who had been at War – his successful efforts in negotiating the Treaty of Portsmouth won Roosevelt the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize

• 2) Construction of Panama Canal

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded annually

Panama: The King’s Crown

Panama: The King’s Crown

1850 Clayton-Bulwer Treaty.

1901 Hay-Paunceforte Treaty.

Philippe Bunau-Varilla,agent provocateur.

Dr. Walter Reed.

Colonel W. Goethals.

1903 Hay-Bunau- Varilla Treaty.

Panama CanalPanama Canal

TR in Panama(Construction

begins in 1904)

TR in Panama(Construction

begins in 1904)

THE PANAMA CANAL

• By the early 20th century, many Americans understood the advantages of a canal through Panama

• It would greatly reduce travel times for commercial and military ships by providing a short cut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans

“The shortcut”

BUILDING THE PANAMA CANAL 1904-1914

• The French had already unsuccessfully attempted to build a canal through Panama

• America first had to help Panama win their independence from Colombia – which it did

• Construction of the Canal stands as one of the greatest engineering feats of all-time

Cost- $380 million Workers– Over 40,000 (5,600 died) Time – Construction took 10 years

Constable of the WorldConstable of the World

The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: 1905The Roosevelt Corollary to

the Monroe Doctrine: 1905Chronic wrongdoing… may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere the adherence of the United States to the Monroe Doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power .

Speak Softly,But Carry a Big Stick!

Speak Softly,But Carry a Big Stick!

U. S. Interventions in Latin America: 1898-1920s

U. S. Interventions in Latin America: 1898-1920s

The U.S. in Latin America: Good Neighbor or Imperialist?

Taft’s “Dollar Diplomacy”

Taft’s “Dollar Diplomacy”

Improve financialopportunities for American businesses.

Use private capital tofurther U. S. interestsoverseas.

Therefore, the U.S. should create stability and order abroad that would best promote America’s commercial interests.

The Mexican Revolution: 1910s

The Mexican Revolution: 1910s

Victoriano Huerta seizes control of Mexico and puts Madero in prison where he was murdered.Venustiano Carranza, Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, and Alvaro Obregon fought against Huerta.The U.S. also got involved by occupying Veracruz and Huerta fled the country.Eventually Carranza would gain power in Mexico.

Wilson’s “Moral Diplomacy”

Wilson’s “Moral Diplomacy”

The U. S. shouldbe the conscienceof the world.

Spread democracy.

Promote peace.

Condemn colonialism.

U. S. Global Investments &Investments in Latin

America, 1914

U. S. Global Investments &Investments in Latin

America, 1914